The role of political and business blogs in Bulgaria is negligible as the majority of online readers see them as tools for spreading rumors, rather than uncovering truths the mainstream media might have missed, a survey shows.

Bulgarians browse the web mostly looking for social networking, news and entertainment, but tend to ignore almost completely blogs, according to a poll, conducted by Sova Haris agency.

Even though Bulgarians are not heavy internet users nearly 20% of those aged between 19-65 say reading news online is the natural thing and they don't miss the look-and-feel of the newspaper, the study shows.

Online news definitely prevail over print editions and radio – internet news providers boast five times more readers than the other two outlets.

Tabloids are hugely popular among Bulgarians who still prefer reading a newspaper at the breakfast table. In terms of readership they have already caught up with the newspapers doing serious journalism, the numbers from the poll show.

Television channels however continue to be extremely important sources of information for Bulgarians – 71% of the respondents said they prefer the TV for domestic and international news.